Wen Zhixin hurriedly took her younger brother's hand and nodded. "All right. We'll apologize."
She lowered her head to glare at Wen Tianqi and dragged him toward Chu Yu. "Hurry up and apologize! I've spoiled you too much. Do you know how badly you've affected them this time?"
After watching the livestream replay, Wen Tianqi knew he had assumed the worst out of malice.
But he was still deeply unwilling to apologize to the Chu siblings in front of so many people.
Noticing the change in Wen Tianqi's expression, Wen Zhixin began dropping hints to remind him. "Remember, this isn't home. You can't just do whatever you want."
Those words finally brought Wen Tianqi to his senses. He looked at Chu Yu and Chu Chen sitting at ease across from him, swallowed his resentment and dissatisfaction, and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong. I won't do it again."
Only then did Zhao Qirui, who had been holding back his anger all this time, calm down a little.
"As an elder, I have to remind you that a child's education is very important. Make sure you keep an eye on your brother from now on. Don't let him stir up trouble so recklessly."
Wen Zhixin's fingers secretly tightened, but she hastened to apologize. "You're right. I'll definitely be more careful from now on. This was my fault too. I also owe Xiao Yu an apology."
Chu Chen snorted from where he sat, finally venting some of his frustration over being wrongfully accused.
"Oh, right." Chu Yu suddenly looked up again. "You'd better post a statement explaining things on Weibo too, or I'll get cursed out for nothing again."
Wen Zhixin continued to smile apologetically and agreed. "Yes. As soon as I get my phone back, I'll post an apology statement first thing."
Seeing that the matter was more or less resolved, the director finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although public opinion on Weibo might still be embroiled in a chaotic battle, with decisive evidence available, clearing things up was only a matter of time.
"All right, I won't take up any more time. Let's hand out the rewards for this haunted house challenge as quickly as possible."
By the time they finished clearing up the matter, it had long since grown dark outside.
The staff, who should have gotten off work on time, had been forced to stay until now as well.
After watching the whole spectacular drama unfold from the sidelines, An Ya no longer thought as well of the Wen siblings as she had before.
At best, Wen Tianqi's behavior today showed immaturity; at worst, it showed a complete lack of upbringing.
It was best to keep her distance from someone who so easily stirred up trouble.
Soon, a staff member brought over a box containing several copper coins exclusive to the production team. These were presumably the Wish Coins the director had mentioned.
The director took out three Wish Coins and walked over to Chu Yu with a gentle expression. "Here, three Wish Coins in total. One of them is specifically for Sister Chu. When we go outdoor camping next episode, these Wish Coins can be exchanged for special items. They'll be quite useful."
Chu Yu accepted the Wish Coins and instinctively glanced at Gu Jinhuai beside her. After a moment's thought, she took out one Wish Coin and offered it to him.
"Exactly three, one each. Here you go."
After all, they were teammates who had just "escaped" together. It would only be right to give him one.
Seeing this, the director instinctively asked, "Didn't Mr. Gu say he might not come next episode? If he doesn't come, the Wish Coin won't be any use to him."
Chu Yu also looked over, a hint of puzzlement entering her eyes. "You're not coming next episode?"
Gu Jinhuai glanced at her, took the Wish Coin without another word, and slipped it into his pocket. "The company hasn't been very busy lately. I should be able to join you again next episode."
Beside them, Zhao Qirui looked puzzled.
He remembered that Gu Group had recently begun pursuing quite a few major international projects. They should have been very busy.
Had he remembered wrong?
Hearing this, Chu Yu said nothing more and turned to take Zhao Qirui's arm with a beaming smile.
"Uncle Zhao, I made Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at our hotel this morning. By the time we get back, it should have cooked for exactly eight hours and be ready to eat. Come taste my cooking later."
Zhao Qirui readily nodded. "No problem. Our young lady's cooking certainly won't disappoint!"
Only after the director finished awarding the Wen siblings their second-place Wish Coins did he officially announce that filming was over and they could return to the hotel.
Meanwhile, netizens on Weibo began posting screen recordings exposing what had happened with the Wen siblings, sending many fans' favorable impressions of them plummeting before they even had a chance to watch the livestream.
Chapter 26
At first, everyone had thought quite well of the Wen siblings.
A brother and sister from a poor family, persevering and striving with unbending resolve-put that in a novel, and it would be a classic Cinderella comeback wish-fulfillment story.
But now, news of them slandering someone had suddenly broken, completely changing netizens' impressions of the pair.
Especially with recordings from the livestream spreading all over the internet, the Wen siblings had thoroughly made a name for themselves this time.
[Sorry to ask, but who is Wen Zhixin? A newcomer in the entertainment industry?]
[An ordinary-person guest on that sibling variety show. Things should've gone pretty well for her, but apparently she got exposed today for enabling her brother or something.]
[Good grief, I just finished watching that clarification video over on another page. Chu Yu and the production team were wronged so badly.]
The halos everyone had placed over the Wen siblings out of sympathy gradually faded and shattered.
Since the variety show's livestream began, Wen Zhixin's newly registered Weibo account had gained more than three hundred thousand followers.
But after this incident, her follower count fell to just over two hundred thousand overnight.
If Wen Zhixin learned of those disastrous numbers, she would surely regret it until her guts turned green.
At that moment, with plenty of passersby looking on, Yufen Xiaoqi's article was receiving more and more likes and reposts.
Many passersby left indignant comments speaking up against the injustice.
Zhang Yue, who had been keeping a close eye on Weibo's numbers and public opinion, noticed these shifts in attention and hurriedly began calling people.